


Experiment 0620.

by MuseMusing



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Superpowers, Don't Have to Know Canon, F/F, F/M, Human Experimentation, M/M, Multi, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-09-01 06:10:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8612296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuseMusing/pseuds/MuseMusing
Summary: Eren Yeager is taken at a young age, to be experimented on. He isn't completely lonely when he befriends other subjects in the facility he's kept in.Should he and his friends escape, where will they go? Who will they run into and what sort of journey awaits them? Will they suffer any lasting effects from the serums they'd been injected with? 
(Characters are not mine - Credit of that goes to their creators. You don't really need to know canon to read, either.)





	1. Resize.

Nausea. Pain. Weakness. Disorientation. Each of these four things was something that Eren was accustomed to as it happened from time to time if perhaps he was sick, happening one at a time. It became a problem when he woke up in yet another strange hallway with all four symptoms at once or too close together; the pain was the first to hit him, followed quickly by the nausea that rolled through him, sharp and rather annoying since he would rather not taste the acidity or smell the pungent odour. When he went to go pick himself up from the floor, it spun and pitched beneath him and his arms soon wobbled with the strain to keep up some of his own weight. Slowly, he maneuvered himself into a sitting position with his legs folded beneath him, eyes wrenched shut. The young Alpha breathed in through his mouth and exhaled through his nose, waiting until the nausea abated.

  It didn't register at first, the throbbing in his neck, but when it did, it cemented his subconscious suspicion: he'd been given something again. Who knew what it could do aside from the doctor himself. Eren wasn't particularly thrilled to find out what it was that he could do now. Lifting a hand, he pressed two fingers against his neck, cringing when the pain intensified. One could only take so many sleepless nights before it caught up to the body, forcing it to crash on itself to replenish it's mental and physical state, and those were the times when Eren would be drugged.

  Something new swimming through his veins, taking root in his genetic code. To make him “more, better, faster.” That's what the doctor was aiming for. To give powers to those who hadn't been born with them, no matter the pain or the consequences. What mattered was perfecting the serums. And Eren was an unwilling volunteer.

  A loud blaring resounded in the hallway, high-pitched and insistent. Eren reached up to cup his hands over his ears, shoulders bunching up. He knew he had been sitting there for a little too long, but how could he move if the muscles in his legs would give as soon as he stood? Since Eren could definitely not stand, he reluctantly pulled his hands away from his ears and started to crawl forward, limbs quaking and protesting his every move. Each door that the Alpha managed to make it to only rattled when he jiggled the door knobs to try and gain entry - to no avail. The longer Eren stayed on his hands and knees, the more annoying the alarm became; being fed up with hearing it, he rose to his feet with difficulty, one hand resting on a nearby door. Fortunately, the alarm stopped once the Alpha was on two feet.

  He must have tried close to twenty doors by the time a tingling sensation started in his toes and fingertips, working its way up gradually. It felt the same as when a foot fell asleep and then upon wiggling/stepping on it, that pin and needle numbness taking over. Annoying and sometimes painful, but easy enough to ignore. Eren shook his hands a little in an attempt to get more feeling in them, flexing his fingers at the same time. It was no use, he learned, after the third time. That sensation kept creeping its way upwards to his shoulders and knees and the only upside to the entire thing was that he could still feel. The downside was that the nerves in his body were a whole lot more sensitive.

  The young Alpha yelped and jumped when walls slid up from panels in the floor the second he stepped in front of a caramel toned door, which had started to rattle of its own accord. A clicking sound rang through the air once the door has ceased its possessed actions, giving Eren a sense of unease (which wasn’t all that new considering where he was).

   _Guess it begins now,_ Eren thought to himself, hand now turning the knob and pushing the door open. With an audible swallow, Eren stared down into the dimly lit room that awaited him at the end of the - _No way,_ he thought. Connecting from the outside of the door, dropping down at an angle until it reached the bottom, was a _slide_ , of all things. It looked like a kiddie slide from a playground park, except much larger, steeper, and a few degrees shy of _I don’t think so_. Being a few degrees shy of that didn’t stop Eren from backing up in his little cubicle area to press back into the wall behind him.

  “Hey! Wait!” A voice drifted up from somewhere in the room, the sound causing him to take a step forward. It was familiar, but not with it’s subtle gruff tone edging it. “Don’t leave me down here!”

  As if on cue, the wall behind Eren rattled and jerked forward with a screech high enough that he was seconds away from tearing off his own ears. It pressed in at an alarming rate and while he knew it was futile to even try, the Alpha dug his shoes into the ground in an attempt to slow the wall’s progress. It didn’t take long until he was teetering on the edge in the doorway, hands gripping at the frame tight enough that his knuckles paled. A final jerk was all Eren needed before his foot slipped and he careened down the slide with a shriek. Pain erupted in his tailbone, lower-to-mid back, and one elbow as they slammed into the slide on his way down. While the ride itself wasn’t long, it was just enough for Eren’s heart to feel like it was trying to break itself out of him from under his ribcage, like, ‘ _Nope, you’re on your own, try to live without me_.’

  Admittedly, he shrieked most of the way down.

  Eren’s feet slammed into the ground at the bottom and before he could try to right himself, the momentum caused him to sprawl out where he landed, scraping his forearms on the gravel below him. Another Alpha’s scent curled into his nose when they moved closer, prompting Eren to look up. He was pretty sure he could see the question marks popping up around his head when he stared a little too long and not comprehending what he was seeing. The only thing that was familiar was the charcoal jumpsuit, cinched slightly at the waist until Eren’s eyes landed on the number emblazoned in white on the left breast pocket: _1223_.

  “ _Percy?_ ” Eren asked, a little higher than normal in regards to his friend’s appearance. Standing in Percy’s skin was a stranger. There was no steam meeting in the middle of his body; no black hair; no sea green eyes.

  “Did you hit your head hard enough to forget me?” Percy’s eyebrows knit together. It was hard to focus because his companion had red hair, a little washed out looking, though it was noticeably red. His eyes were blue, still close to an ocean colour.

  “No . . . But, there’s something wrong with your face.” Eren informed him, waving a hand at his appearance.

  A sigh. “I know. My appearance keeps shifting and it’s as weird as seven kinds of hell.”

  “Aren’t there nine circles of hell, though?”

  “Semantics. Hell is still Hell, isn’t it?

  “Well, _yeah,_ but the numbers -”

  “Moving on!” Percy said cheerily. Eren got nauseous all over again watching as Percy’s skin bubbled and shifted, the complexion lightening about four shades, turning him into being as pale as a vampire. Now his hair was bleaching itself from root to tip, going from that odd washed-out red to pink. His eyes turned grey. “This might sound like me being a jackass, but I’m glad that you were brought down here. It’s felt like hours since I was put down here.”

  Eren felt his chest tighten, forgetting for a moment how to breathe. He couldn’t blame Percy for being thankful that he wasn’t alone in another trial run. All Percy ever asked for was for him to not be alone during any trail. He didn’t want to feel the pain by himself; wanted instead for someone to tell him he would feel better soon. But if Eren was ever granted one wish, it would be to keep those that he cared for safe from him if it came down to it. He didn’t want to accidentally hurt anyone he had come to care for or love because of the poison that was rearranging his genetic code to turn him into something he wasn’t meant to be. Eren was eighty percent certain he was meant to help others because of the one and only gift he had shown when he was small; about four or so, he wanted to say. It wasn’t something he was liable to forget so easily. The day he’d fallen off of something and wailed for minutes because of the pain of his scraped skin, wailing until his mother had come running to see what had happened to her precious baby boy.

  But what she was met with wasn’t blood that pooled in his wounds or even dripped from them. What she was met with was blood that seeped back into the wound as it closed up before her eyes, gravel dropping from his delicate skin. Her look of worry replaced with awe as he healed himself.

  He wasn't entirely sure why he was there, when he'd been born with a gift and the doctor wanted to give to those who had nothing.

  Eren accidentally tuned out his friend as his thoughts turned back to his mother. Where was she right now? How was she doing? Was she even alive at this very moment? Had she given up on ever finding him, and was his father still being her rock after all this time of Eren being gone? After all this time, he didn’t know how she was holding up and that was quite possibly the thing that made him the angriest. What made him depressed was that he could no longer remember what she looked like.

  “Are you even listening to me?” Percy shook his shoulder to get his attention. Eren shook his head, ashamed. Percy didn’t appear bothered by it, just rolled his eyes, set his hands under Eren’s arms and hauled him up to his feet. The younger Alpha was jarred at how normal his friend’s hands felt on his skin, but it was to be expected; previous gifts repressed to show off the new ones. The old ones would come back soon. They always did.

  Percy . . . How was _his_ mother holding up? He had once told Eren that his mother used to make blue food for special occasions because of an argument that had happened between her and Percy’s stepfather. That left Eren wondering: Did Percy’s mother still make blue food on those special occasions or had she stopped because it became a painful reminder that her son was still missing? And now, unfortunately, the Percy Eren knew had come to hate blue food because of their captors; captors that sent him something blue every year for his birthday - a trinket, toy, or pastry to remind him of what day it was. Percy seethed silently now each time his birthday rolled around, being forced to remember what day it was. Forced to remember those happier times when they arose from his memories.

  All of Eren’s friends were sent something on their birthdays, on the days they’d been ripped from their families to be put somewhere they didn’t belong. It made them miserable and not as happy as they should be because they _survived_ one more year. Survived _one more_ trial. Survived more pain.

  “Since the slide disappeared that you had a rather . . . Slippery slope down, I guess we should look for other possible exits,” Percy observed, waving a hand in the general direction of outwards.

  “The last time I asked you what we should do, your response was to hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Aren’t you being mature this time around?” Eren jabbed at his ribs with an elbow.

  “You missed out on the singing. I got bored waiting for someone to show up,” the smile that Percy gave him was tight, pinched at the corners. Eren had been around Percy enough to know that it wasn’t boredom that had had him singing - it had been loneliness. It was because of this loneliness that Eren and Percy were given times to meet a few times during the week as otherwise Percy became sullen and depressed. It wasn’t that unusual to walk into Percy’s room and find more scorch marks littering the place than the last time he had been around.

  For an Alpha to be so clingy, even if he could not truly hold onto Eren, it wasn’t something that was normal. Alphas were meant to be strong and brave, holding the world on their shoulders when all things seemed lost. They were the strong, sturdy foundations that other dynamics clung to; the foundations that were built upon. But when Percy broke down and felt that he needed that reassurance, that he was fine, Eren was more than welcome to provide it. To help the older Alpha in any way that he could, no matter how small or big a gesture, because Percy had done it in kind to him.

  “You check along the left and I’ll check the right, we’ll meet somewhere in the middle?” Eren suggested with a lift of his shoulders and a twitch of the lips. He clapped his friend on his back without fear of being scorched.

  Percy made it seem like the suggestion wasn’t worthy of much consideration - where else would they go, after all? - so he conceded by making a noise in the back of his throat before wandering over to the left half of the wall. Eren did his own wandering walk over to the right and got his first up-close look at what room they were in. The wall itself was made of rough hewn rock that jutted up and out at all sorts of angles with no order. The kind that one might see in a mountainside for climbers except that this one had a chalky substance that came away when he dragged a few fingers across one spot. Eren wiggled a few pieces of stone to see if any of them would give for a possible hidden passageway, rapping his knuckles to test the sound that would reach back to his ears on other parts. His nose twitched in an attempt to catch scents that he knew; from another person or perhaps the air from another room that was crisper, fresher. He caught no scent of any kind.

  A couple of times Eren needed to stop because the pain that was making his muscles throb was getting worse; it felt like his skin was stretching too thin over his bones or seemed to fit a little too loose for comfort. Likewise, his bones felt like they were creaking with each step he took. He felt a little too hot for comfort, as if Percy had been standing behind him. Eren used his hands to massage at his opposite shoulders to loosen the tension there and only stopping short when a scent coiled into his nose. Eren stopped, leaning closer to the rocks and sniffing at them like a hound, minus the snuffling noises. The creases in his frown deepened with each passing second because he felt like he should know who this scent belonged to with its familiarity, but for the life of him couldn’t place to whom it belonged.Whereas it was easy to forget what a face looked like, it was a lot harder to forget a scent, and Eren never really understood why that was.

  “Percy!” Eren leaned against his section of the wall, trying to ignore the intense needle prick sensation against him from the jutting rock. “There’s a scent over here!”

  “Really? Who is it?” He called back, voice echoing just as Eren’s had.

  Eren shrugged. “Dunno.”

  Percy trotted over. When he got closer, Eren could see that his appearance was slowly shifting back to what it should be. His hair was grey, steadily darkening, and his eyes were a few shades off, as was his skin. The older Alpha leaned forward to sniff at the spot Eren indicated to with a finger. A crease formed between his eyebrows, making Percy look angry rather than confused.

  “What?” Eren prompted him when he looked like he was debating on what to say.

  “It just smells really familiar, but at the same time, it's kind of foreign.”

  “Could it be someone we know?”

  “Maybe . . . There aren't very many reasons why someone we know would suddenly smell different.”

  Eren tried to think through the haze in his mind, grimacing as he straightened himself. “Maybe we aren't the only ones here?”

  Percy was already looking up, trying to see past the pitch darkness up near the ceiling to see if he could catch a flash of colour. “I guess that's a possibility, but this scent is fa - Are you okay?” He stopped mid-sentence when his eyes swung in Eren’s direction.

  “M’fine.” Eren said through gritted teeth. A dull throb had presented itself behind his eyes and at the back of his head.

  “Right, because looking zombified classifies as being fine.” Percy put his hands on Eren’s upper arms to steady him when he swayed. “Your eyes are glazed over and your face is red. And I can feel your body heat through the sleeves of your jumpsuit.”

  “Too hot,” was all Eren could manage to get out.

  “All right, uh,” Percy bit his lower lip uncertainly. “I can't cool you down, not with that part of me suppressed, so let's just - let's just get you out of this jumpsuit for now, okay? It's long sleeves and that probably isn't helping.” The concern in Percy’s voice was strained due to him trying to keep his cool.

  Eren nodded his assent as his fingers moved up to fumble with the buttons of his caramel jumpsuit. He somehow managed - with Percy’s help - to get his arms out of the sleeves so it clung to his waist, draping down his back. Percy’s hands felt too rough on Eren’s hypersensitive skin, causing him to whimper and back away. His only escape route was the rocks behind him and they were even worse with their jagged tips.

  “Here, sit down.” Percy offered when Eren swayed towards him. Eren all but collapsed down on the ground with Percy’s help, the older Alpha seating himself behind Eren and letting him rest against him. “Is this better?”

  Eren’s head lolled in something that could have been a yes. It felt better to sit there because the room wasn't spinning anymore as it had been in the last few minutes. “Mmmn.” Eren’s eyes wandered aimlessly until he stared reproachfully at the white number on his own breast pocket: _0620_.

  Eren’s life would be much, much better if he wasn't here under the thumb of some crazy doctor who wanted to experiment on Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. Better if Eren was just coming down with a cold and his parents would be there to take care of him, giving him medicine, reading him stories. He may have been thirteen, but by all things in this world, he just wanted to be read a story by his mother while his father fussed over his illness.

  While it wasn't bad to have his friend comforting him with gentle touches and soft, reassuring words, he knew Percy was scared. It was in the way his voice would hitch and in the pinch of his brows. And yet, Eren couldn't reassure his friend that he was fine; he wasn't dying. What didn't help matters was the fact that tears had started to streak down his cheeks slowly no matter how hard he tried to stop them.

  “I miss my family,” Eren couldn't stop the words even if he had wanted to, and he didn't want to. It was common knowledge among him and his friends that they all missed their families - they had never said it aloud to themselves or to each other. What was the point in stating something so painfully obvious?

  “I know,” Percy hugged Eren closer to his chest. “You'll see them again. I promise.” Percy’s hand reached up so he could awkwardly sift his fingers through Eren’s hair to make him feel better. “So don't give up, okay? They'll want to see you.”

  Eren blinked the tears from his eyes. “We’ll see them again. Our families are okay. We won't give up. And when we leave - when we leave we can show that crazy doctor a thing or two, right?”

  “Absolutely. They won't get away with this. We’ll show them.”

  After that, they fell into an easy silence with Percy continuing to pet at Eren’s hair, keeping him close. Percy smelt like the ocean with a hint of smoke from a bonfire, giving him a calming presence that the younger Alpha liked. It reminded him of something vaguely similar from when he younger, lost to time now, buried somewhere in his memories. Somewhere in the middle of being pet, breathing in that scent and listening to Percy’s easy and quiet breathing, had Eren dozing off, head dropping into the crook of his friend’s neck.

  Unfortunately, the symptoms holding his body hostage that had abated just the slightest returned in full swing: skin was too hot, everything from his toes to his hair hurt, eyes that felt too sensitive even in the dimness of the room and lastly, his bones that started to grind together at the joints with his skin that suddenly seemed too tight over his muscles. It felt like it was trying to mold itself to his skeleton - everything else be damned. Eren jolted upright with a gasp of pain, arms curling around his stomach as he bent over. Percy had got up onto his knees and he was trying to talk to him. It seemed like static in his ears. Words that wouldn't process. Touch that was either too light to feel or his body was too focused on the pain that coiled tightly in him. The young Alpha squeezed his eyes shut. A whimper escaped from his throat, low, inhuman. Purely instinctual as he sought to try to voice just how much pain he felt because he'd forgotten how to speak.

  Just like that, everything stopped all at once. Eren felt so light he could've sworn he was on a cloud or a really comfortable bed. If one could overlook that subtle trembling leftover in his limbs, then Eren could say he'd almost never felt better. It was darker than he had remembered and that static was still in his ears, gradually subsiding. Slowly sitting up - when did he lay down? - Eren pushed up the fabric that pressed down on his head in bemusement - further confused when he glanced down at himself and realized he was naked. He hadn't been naked sitting with Percy, had he? He'd only had his upper half bared. Certainly he would remember if he'd been undressed, either by himself or with his friend’s help.

  “Holy shit, holy shit, _ho-ly shit_.” That voice was loud, booming. And very clearly panicking. Eren cringed away from the sound as it continued. “This crazy doctor’s finally done it. He disintegrated Eren!”

  Wait, _what?_ Eren looked around a little more in confusion. “I'm still here!” His voice sounded much too small to have come from him, eyes widening in surprise.

   _Rustle-rustle, rustle._ The fabric all around him was being jostled and overturned, throwing Eren off his feet with a yelp. A little bit of pale light shone in his eyes when the fabric was lifted off of him, pooled around him. Percy’s face filled his view, the older Alpha spluttering.

  What he settled on was, “Why are you so tiny?!”

  “Why are you so big?!”

  “You're naked!”

  “Really? I thought I was wearing a skin-tight bodysuit.” Eren started climbing over his discarded clothes, a scowl on his face.

  “You've shrunk,” Percy said flatly, as if that wasn't already obvious. “You're all of six inches tall.”

  “Don't step on me and I think we'll be fine.” Eren sighed. Great, now how was he going to get himself back to his original self? Maybe he didn't have much to worry about. Percy’s appearance had settled itself entirely, now looking like he should; he didn't seem like an odd familiar stranger that hijacked his friend’s body.

  “I'm not going to step on you.” Percy leaned over, tearing at the lower leg of the boxers Eren’d been in until he got a thin strip from it.

  “Hey!” Eren protested.

  Percy just dropped the strip on him. “Now you can cover yourself.”

  Eren grumbled to himself. Nevertheless, he took the strip and wound it around his waist several times until it looked awkwardly pleated, tying it off behind his back. “I'm wearing a skirt.”

  Percy’s eyes sized him up before offering with a shrug, “It’s a good look?”

  “Did you really suggest I wear skirts. I mean, I don't think I have a problem, but just to get that confirmed.”

  “Then consider it confirmed.” Percy wrapped thumb and index finger around Eren, lifting him up, the latter of which squawked. Percy settled him in the palm of his other hand.

  “I can walk!”

  “You told me not to step on you. It's hard to see in here, and if you're in my palm, at least I won't have to worry about stepping on you.” Percy paused in gathering up Eren’s things. “Better yet, I'll do this.” Percy dropped Eren into his pocket, making him shuffle around in the fabric.

  Eren set his hands on the edge of the pocket and hauled himself up, head poking out from it. “Seriously?”

  “Better than accidentally dropping you.” Percy wandered around the room again. Eren didn’t think it was worth a retort, so he just settled himself back and got as comfortable as he could in the pocket.

  Eren had to leave Percy to tugging, kicking, and pulling at various pieces of the wall as he wandered around its circumference due to the fact he was tiny and there wouldn’t be any strength behind anything he did - not enough to be sufficient and effective. During the - what felt like - hours of Percy finishing up his side and what was left of Eren’s, they engaged in idle chatter that ranged from their friends to their current lessons. Despite the fact that they’d been taken at the ages they were, the doctor had given them the option of schooling, as though they felt bad that Eren and everyone else would never get to experience that part of life. Percy swore that “come hell or high water” he wasn’t dressing in a tux for the “bullshitty prom” they’d have around here, as he wouldn’t be around long enough for that to happen. Apparently Percy would sooner gut himself than sway awkwardly in a grey room filled with violently bright coloured streamers (that’s what they both pictured a prom to be like in this place).

  When there was a lull in the conversation, Eren felt his eyelids begin to drop again, arms hanging out of the pocket along with his head. He was just beginning to give into the darkness that threatened to overwhelm him when he heard a hissing sound and then Percy swearing up an entire storm. Eren was jostled a little too much when Percy jumped backwards.

  “What’s going on?” He muttered, choosing to ignore the words spewing from the other’s mouth.

  “I kicked a patch of the wall and it swung out at me and nailed me in my damn shin. _Ow_ . That shit _hurts_.” Percy whined, leaning over and lifting his leg at the same time to rub at it.

  “What?” Eren’s attention snapped into focus real quick after hearing a patch of wall had shifted; there wasn’t much more to check out in the room what with Percy about five feet away from where he’d been called over to. It took a minute for his eyes to really focus, but sure enough a section of the wall had swung outwards with it’s spikes glinting dangerously in what light they’d been offered. The only problem was -

  “I can’t fit through there.” Percy complained. “It’s entirely too small for me to get through.”

  “What about squeezing yourself through?”

  Percy gave him an incredulous look. “Do you want to wiggle me free with a vat of butter? Because that’s what’s going to happen if I even attempt to try to get through there.”

  Eren winced, looking from the door to his companion. It was true - Percy would more than likely get stuck if he attempted to force his way through. What section had swung outwards was big enough for a dwarf to fit through, barely, and that wasn’t the issue. Percy probably could have wiggled himself through the door if it wasn’t so narrow, putting it at odds with him and his broad shoulders.

  “I think you’d better check it out, Eren. While you’re still tiny.” Percy fished Eren out of his pocket, crouched, and slowly eased him to the ground. Nothing like being manhandled when one was so small; he could only be grateful Percy didn’t accidentally squeeze too hard.

  “But what about you?” Eren turned to look at him.

  “I’ll be all right. Even if you can’t come back this way because your body has fixed itself, the Doctor will come get us eventually since we’re being watched as it is.” Percy gave a lopsided grin that wobbled just the slightest at the corners.

  “But - I -”

  “Go,” Percy said quietly, encouragingly. “The panel in this wall is small for a reason. You’re meant to go ahead of me.”

  “You can’t possibly have known that I’d wind up this small to be able to get through here!”

  “No,” he agreed. “I’ll bet not even the Doctor knew that. I don’t think it would’ve mattered whether you wound up being six inches tall or thirty feet. Don’t forget who we’re dealing with here. You’ll do it, because you know that eventually we’ll be put back into the same room. Whether they’re trial runs or one of our rooms.” Percy gave a subtle touch to Eren’s back, making him stumble forward towards the door.

  “Yeah, we’ll see each other again,” he murmured to himself as he started to make his way woodenly closer, closer, closer, to the door in front of them. Maybe that was what kept him from staying rooted in place - knowing that even as he left Percy behind right now, they would still be able to meet up with one another once more. This didn’t make it any less difficult to put one foot made of lead ahead of the other.

  A cold draft of air met him at the mouth of the door, hints of cleaner scents wafting in from whatever lay on the other side. No staleness of a room that sat unused for long periods of time, just waiting for the building’s inhabitants to wander around it again. On the inside the walls were smooth and Eren was suddenly glad that Percy hadn’t decided to be stubborn and tried to fit himself in diagonally and then shove his way through regardless of his own words. With how narrow the inside was, Percy wouldn’t have been able to wiggle his hips into it without causing himself a bit of damage in the process.

  Eren had just set a toe on the other end when lights flickered to life to illuminate the area he was in, forcing the Alpha to squint against the sudden invasion, cringing away from it. In this room the scent was stronger and Omegan, Eren taking in a deep breath four times. _I_ know _who this is_ , he thought to himself. Being surrounded by the scent was tickling at his memories from when he was younger, conjuring up vague images and what might have been a sound that was no longer committed to memory. Without paying the slightest bit attention to what he’d entered now, Eren padded further into the room while continuing to inhale - desperately trying to piece together whose face was meant to go with this scent.

  Fifteen steps was all it took for Eren’s earlier symptoms to make themselves known so viciously that he listed to one side, vision greying around the edges like a filter for a camera. Skin that sagged and ballooned around bones that were aching. Limbs that quivered, twitching subtly now.

   _Thwump_.

  Within the time it took for Eren’s vision to fade back in after winking out, he knew two things: One, he was currently laying on the ground, and two, Eren felt entirely too heavy. Hauling himself up onto his hands was easier than it had been the first time he woke in the hallway; no muscles protesting, apparently deciding to hold him up with ease this time. Eren looked down at his body, nonplussed, after shifting himself into a sitting position with his legs folded beneath him. Raising his hands up to his face, Eren was about to touch his skin when Percy’s voice sounded out behind him.

  “What the hell!” Eren turned towards him. “I start walking away from the door and five minutes later a hole gets kicked into it and now you’re twenty feet tall! _And_ to top it all off, you’re naked again, which can’t be fixed unless you tie a _curtain_ around your waist.”

   _Do you think there’s a limit to how big or small I can get?_ was what he’d tried to ask. What came out was a lilting, confused whining groan. Eren scowled and tried again only to get a low growl.

 “Did you suddenly forget how to speak?” Percy crossed his arms over his chest.

  Eren scowled even more and gave a slow nod in affirmation. How was it that he could speak when he six inches tall, but not when he was twenty feet tall? Narrowing his eyes, Eren moved his tongue experimentally in his mouth to form syllables and consonants, testing them out. After a moment of concentration, Eren exhaled and groaned out, “E-e-e.”

  Percy lifted an eyebrow. “Don’t hurt yourself now.”

  Eren growled at him.

  The older Alpha just shrugged, giving a grin before he turned and walked further into the room. “So, I smell that that scent continues on into here. Time to find out if we can figure out exactly who it leads to.”

  Eren didn’t move from his spot and instead he chose to actually pay attention to his surroundings. The walls all around him were smooth with an even layer of blue coating them with a lighter shade swirling around into the original tone - the entire mural mimicked waves. With the lights illuminating the entire room, Eren didn’t have to guess how high the ceiling went - about as tall as he was - or how wide the room was or if there were any doors that needed to be felt for. Hidden doors that might have been easier to spot if the cracks in the walls weren’t as patched as they should be. Finally swinging his gaze ahead of him, he took in the pool that was situated closer to the back wall than the center of the room. Percy, having already spotted it, was on his way over; Eren followed by leaning forward to crawl.

  “There’s someone in the pool.” Percy said, arms plunging into the water to drag out the person who’d been facedown in the liquid. “Rolling,” he murmured, turning the figure on the floor on their side. Their wheat coloured jumpsuit was soaked through entirely. “I don’t think they’re - No, wait, there’s the pulse . . .” Blonde hair had spilled onto the ground, creating a lopsided halo. Body dainty and limp, the only thing holding them up being Percy’s hands. “Hey! I saw this guy the other day. Passed him in the hall on the way to the showers. Think he said his name was -”

   _Phfft, phfft._

  Those sounds were distinct once they’d registered in the young Alpha’s mind. Percy started to sway, eyelids drooping constantly as he fought to keep them open. Eren crawled at a faster pace, hand shooting out to keep Percy from cracking his head on the concrete below him.

  “Per-cy,” Eren croaked out with some difficulty, carefully lowering him to the ground. He tugged the little dart capsules out of Percy’s neck with a growl. Eren looked over to the Omega that had fallen flat on his face when Percy’s grip had gone slack.

  “Ffff’ckin’ tranq’lllizers.” Percy’s words were slurring together, one eyelid lifted higher than the other, eyes aimlessly darting around. “‘Mega?”

  Eren leaned over, index finger rolling the little blond Omega over to get a better look at him. _Phfft-phfft_. Before Eren had even finished rolling him over, there was a sting in the left side of his neck and the icy liquid slipped itself into his body. The reaction to it was instantaneous: swaying just as Percy had, eyelids that were bobbing as he fought to stay awake, limbs that were becoming heavier with their reluctance to cooperate with any command he tried to give them. Seconds later Eren found himself folding in on himself, elbows and knees jutting out at awkward angles, head easing towards the edge of the pool and his brown hair became weighed down once the water soaked into it.

   _1321_ was the number that Eren’s gaze had fixated on for the briefest of instances, blackness creeping in around the edges of his vision. Inanely wandering eyes slowly dragged themselves up higher and higher towards the Omega’s face to find blue eyes peeking out from fluttering lids. Those eyes focused quickly and then widened greatly in recognition, body shooting upwards to a sitting position. Small, pale trembling hands that reached towards his face. A sob escaping a throat.

  “It’s you! Oh, Eren. You were here all this time?” That voice was hoarse and like the scent that belonged to this person, it tickled at his memories. Or, tried to with the sedative muddying up whatever images were pulling themselves to the surface gradually. Eren liked to think that perhaps the voice was just a couple octaves deeper than what he remembered.

  Those hands connected with his face, thumbs flittering around his cheekbones before moving up towards his brows, like this Omega was mapping out his features. A quiet whine eased itself from Eren’s throat, tongue dry and sticking to the roof of his mouth. Limp and useless. Uncooperative just like the rest of him.

  Two things - a question and statement - warred around inside his head until he lost his battle to stay awake: _I know you. Who are you?_


	2. Shift.

Eren slowly tried to shift himself, only to feel himself give a subtle twitch. His body didn’t want to cooperate and the Alpha was about fed up with waking only to have acomplete lack of functionality. It was one thing to wake up in pain; another entirely when his body wouldn’t do as he ordered in case something was lurking around in the room with him and he _needed_ to move. If he was vulnerable he wouldn’t stand a chance against whatever it was that he was pitted against - wouldn’t live another day. And Eren was determined to continue to live on; he hadn’t survived for nine years in this piece of shit place to die because of his immobility.

  First to reach his ears was the pitiful whimper followed by the grinding of gears. A Beta’s scent drifted around him, sharp with terror. Tangible when that same scent brushed against his whiskers.

  Wait a minute, _whiskers?_ Eren’s eyes snapped open and he lurched forward violently with a twitch. It wasn’t the Beta girl that he focused on, but his long, sleek feline body with a tawny coat, white underside, and a variety of black markings of three different styles: open rosettes, solid spots, and stripes. His tail was ringed in black, which twitched from left to right and back again at the tip. Raising himself up shakily onto four (huge) paws, he guessed he was right around three and a half feet tall. He felt his elongated upper canines sliding along the sides of his jowls.

  “I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be here.” The girl whimpered, turning around and banging on the door she cowered by.

  Eren looked at her, hating that he was the source of her terror. Her dark brown-black hair was in a messy braid down her back, strands having come loose all over the place. Olive skin was dirtied with a layer of dirt, covering up her spray of freckles. Brown eyes kept darting from one side of the room to the other and would occasionally flick in his direction to ensure he wasn’t moving all that much. When he stood up, the young girl - all of maybe fifteen - had started to tremble.

  Trying to appear as nonthreatening as he could, Eren crouched down and moved towards her at a crawl. A meow, quiet and gentle, left him. Two steps, four, six, eight. He was getting closer and closer to her.

  “Stay back!” She said, pressing herself back into the door.

  Eren tilted his head at her before dropping gracelessly to his stomach and then rolling over onto his back. He meowed at her again, louder than before, and rubbed his head down into the ground, wiggling around in a furiously cute manner (or he hoped it was cute; it was hard to manage when he looked lethal and was acting like an overgrown domestic cat).

  _Wrong wrong wrong_. Eren’s instincts were rankling now at the fact that he was on his back, in such a vulnerable position, with a stranger mere feet from him. It didn’t even matter this girl looked defenseless and would likely be unable to fend him off.

  When this Beta girl inched closer to him hesitantly, Eren pushed aside the savage feeling that arose within him. Something that made his mouth water the closer she got, teeth that itched and paws that flexed, letting the tips of his claws curve outwards. It was an odd feeling, something he had never felt before. The feeling that had grown the older he got was a sense to protect those he cared for - it came with being an Alpha.

  “Just a big kitty,” the girl whispered, finally reaching out to scratch under his furry chin. Eren arched into the touch with a purr that stuttered briefly, body surprised at the noises it was making. Alphas did not purr with delight from the feel of soft fingers on their throats. Growling, hissing, and snarling were all noises commonly heard amongst Alphas. Purring? Not so much.

  Eren was soaking up the contact and hesitant affection like flowers with water. The longer she pet at him - under his chin, the sides of his neck, even his stomach - the more debilitating it felt. She spoke soft words to him, cooing to him in between phrases. _Such a pretty kitty. You aren't very dangerous, are you?_

  He desperately wanted to tell her, _‘No, I'm not dangerous,’_ when those feelings surged in him, more powerful than before and he wanted to tell her to get away. Like it would do any sort of good with the closed area they were in, locked away from the rest of the world.

  No sooner had he thought that - being locked away from the rest of the world - the door rattled and shook insistently. She shot up from her half-lounging position on the floor, head whipped in the direction of the door. The girl lunged to her feet as Eren rolled back to his stomach, limbs mostly tucked under him. His eyes were trained on her unsuspecting back, tracing upwards to the back of her neck slowly. So easy; one quick lunge and he could sink his teeth into her neck, tightening his jaw with each twitch until the bones crunched and snapped. Too easy for him to force her to breathe her last breath.

  Eren was slowly lifting himself to his paws, tongue flickering out against his teeth. The farther away the Beta walked, the more Eren could feel his muscles tensing and coiling, ready to lash out. Until he realized what he was doing. Shaking his head, he staggered back a few steps.

  No, _no,_ he _wasn't_ a monster. This couldn't be happening. It wasn't supposed to be like this. All Eren had wanted to do was help people like his father did - not be the reason someone was in pain or near death. Hanging his head down, Eren reached up with a paw to swat at himself. A pitiful meow left his throat.

  “Are you okay?” she asked quietly, taking a hesitant step closer to him. Eren backed up more. The crouching, the growl, lips pulling back to expose his teeth, it was all reflexive.

  A disembodied voice crackled in from speakers around the room, a voice Eren had only heard a handful of times, “About time it took effect. Sorry to say, dear, but you might want to run.”

  There was a distant part of Eren that wanted to beg and shout, tell her not to run, don’t turn your back again, because that’s what the beast he turned into was waiting for. She had become prey in his eyes, now, preferring the stealthy kill with the thrill of a good chase. To feel her struggle beneath him when he eventually overpowered her, and he would - his predatory instincts demanded that of him. He would not lose, would not let his precious prey escape from him.

  She’d half-turned away from him at the voice, eyes flicking in his direction with worry. She wondered how such a docile cat could now be growling at her, looking at her as if it would tear her throat out at any minute. Instincts in her shivered at the sight and she knew before she even started running that this was a battle she couldn’t win unless she somehow got her hands on a weapon of some sort (even that was a maybe). Anything before she went down.

  Eren watched as she turned and fled out the door the second it opened with a shudder, terror permeating the air once more and drifting out into the hall that the door had opened to reveal. Eren shot forward, instincts taking over as he ran after her, legs moving properly now that he wasn’t thinking on how to coordinate all four at the same time. Rounding to the left, as the girl had, he followed after herl. His speed slowed down now that she was in his sights, ignoring all the doors that he passed. None of them would give way for her to escape; he knew that on some level. This was another trial and he was meant to have turned out this way, loath as he was to admit it at a later time.

  After a few minutes, Eren didn’t feel like dawdling his time anymore with his prey so close that his keen eyes picked out the different shades of dark brown of her  hair. Or the small tears that were in her winter jacket and jeans, boots scuffed up from someone stepping on them. When Eren tensed the muscles in his hind legs, he launched himself into the air, front paws extended and claws out already ready to dig into skin. To sever, rend, and destroy.

  She turned when he was mere inches away from her at the last second, eyes sparking with determination as he collided with her. Her arms wrapped around his lithe form, a shriek of pain echoing in his ears when his jaws clamped down onto her throat. His front claws were tearing up her shoulders and chest, his momentum swung them to the side. Even with his side and back hitting the ground beneath him, it didn’t faze him, only spurred him to roll them over so the Beta was beneath him and pinned to the ground.

 Victorious snarls bubbled up from his gut. Strengthening his bite with each twitch of his jaw. Blood gushed into his mouth, splashing his tongue; it tasted kind of tangy. The predator that Eren had truly become was quivering with the rightness of this: Taken down his enemy with his speed and claws and teeth, the tears that were rolling down her cheeks, and even the tugging and clutching to his fur with her hands that were steadily losing their will to move. Lungs that struggled to take in air successfully, her chest that was being crushed by his weight.

  How long had it taken? Minutes? Seconds? Her breaths grew shallower. Screams had turned to gasps. Arms that fell to her sides now.  Eren pulled back when her chest didn’t rise anymore, eyes raking over her frame to admire his handiwork. Lacerations littered her upper torso and her thighs, puncture wounds in her neck. He licked at his teeth to erase the remnants of blood that dripped from them. He’d been in the middle of nuzzling at her shoulder when the fabric shifted enough and a glint of something shiny caught his eyes. If Eren was in the right frame of mind he wouldn’t have seen something shiny, he would’ve seen a rectangular locket stained red.

  A lot of things would have processed if Eren was in the right frame of mind.

   _Click, hiss._

  Eren’s ears flicked back and his head swung around towards the sound, crouching low and creeping forward. Four doors back, the fifth one opened. Eren was alert and focused, eyes never wavering from the opening of that door. It didn’t take long until a shadow fell in front of it, about the same size as Eren if he stood up tall and proud. Anticipation simmered somewhere behind Eren’s ribs. New prey. One more thing to take down.

  He hauled himself up higher the second the animal veered around the corner, Eren lifting up one massive paw to strike. The beast that had come from the room leapt back, crouching and baring it’s teeth. Eren started to snarl when the beast across from him did, hackles raised. The wolf crept forward cautiously, tongue darting along sharp teeth. Eren had been so busy concentrating on the wolf’s actions that it’s scent didn’t automatically register. Not until they were circling one another about to strike. He knew the wolf had caught his scent when it tilted it’s head in confusion. Both beasts raised themselves up to their full heights, sniffing at the air. Only a couple of deep breaths were needed and something clicked at once.

   _Pack._

_Colony._

  Fundamentally this made no sense. Eren looked nothing like the beast in front of him: all black with green eyes, fur that was longer, a tail that was bushier. Even the canines that Eren could see were not as big as his own. So why did he view this canine as part of his colony? His body was moving on its own so he could rub his body against the wolf. At the display of affection, Eren got a nose bumped into his shoulder. He also realized, belatedly, that this wolf was smattered with blood and it was transferring onto his fur. The wolf’s tail was wagging ever-so-slightly; happy to have someone it knew.

  Eren rubbed his head beneath the wolf’s chin, purring low in his throat. The wolf returned his affection with headbutts and licks. Soon enough the two beasts engaged in a little bit of playtime. Teeth that nipped, batting one another with paws, mindful of claws. Every so often they would pounce at each other to roll around on the floor. The hall was filled with light yips, yowls, and mews.

  A switch was thrown in Eren’s mind that something had happened, memories that trickled back to the surface. He was no longer purely an animal as he straddled Percy’s hips. Percy had also changed back, looking considerably ruffled.He still had wolf ears and a tail, along with fur covering his groin that spread around his waist, paws that were humanoid with fur running up half the length of his forearms; hands on Eren’s shoulders. It was the same deal with his feet - the fur up his calves. Eren was in much the same state except his hands were human tipped with claws and there was a strip of fur running along his spine.

  “So, turns out I view you as pack.” Percy offered into the silence.

  Eren jerked back at the sudden speech, unable to stop the words, “I see you as a colony mate, even though colonies are usually run by females.”

  “Huh. Well. I’d make a bottom joke right now, but I think I’m in too much pain. Come back during business hours.” Percy groaned, twisting subtly in an attempt to release the strain on his spine.

  Pain. That word had Eren’s eyes zeroing in on the blood that was much more easily seen on Percy’s skin. His breath caught in his throat and he cried, “No!” Swiveling around, Eren frantically searched for the girl that he mauled. She was lying ten feet away from them in a bloodied mass of fabric and skin. Tipping to the side, Eren moved off of his friend, scrambling over on his hands and knees. Choked noises left him.

  “Wha - Ow!” Percy said when Eren clipped him in the side with a knee.

  “No, no, no,” Eren chanted. He reached the girl and cradled her head in his lap. He hiccupped on a sob. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to . . . I didn’t mean to . . . Please, I’m sorry . . .”

  Guilt crashed over him in a suffocating wave, clutching at his chest. The pain that was there from his forced change was _nothing_ compared to the knowledge he was the reason this girl had lost her life. If only he could blame it on the fact that it hadn’t truly been him. That excuse would be a cop out. Some part of him had known what he was doing, making him an observer in his own body. Eren couldn’t bring it in himself to feel shame at the fact that tears were now escaping, body wracked by the force of his sobs. He must’ve made himself sick, because the next thing his eyes focus on is the ground beside her because his body has turned itself to the side and he’s puking up his guts - ridding his stomach of all the blood he swallowed.

  “Eren.” Percy put a hand on his shoulder. Eren said nothing, so he tried again, “Eren, hey. Look at me.”

  Eren shook his head after a moment. He didn’t deserve whatever words his friend had to say unless they involved murderer and any other synonyms Percy had up his sleeve. Eventually, Percy set his hands on Eren’s head to stop its shaking once he stopped retching.

  “You dumb kitten, look at me!” Percy’s words were more growl. They had Eren jerking, gaze flying to his friend’s face in surprise. A tone he had never heard before, not directed at him in such a manner. It momentarily stunned him. Was that a sliver of surprise in Percy’s eyes, too? Gone by the time Percy blinked. But there was definitely sadness and guilt Eren could see. “I know that whatever I say right now won’t alleviate your guilt or set your mind at ease, so I won’t try.”

  “Then why -”

  “Because,” Percy interrupted him. “It hurts right now and it’s going to continue to hurt; the guilt is always going to be there. But you need to listen to me when I tell you that you _aren’t_ a monster. You aren’t a beast.”

  “But I killed her.” Eren had never heard his voice sound so weak. So broken.

  An emotion that Eren couldn’t identify flashed in Percy’s eyes. His tone was grave. “You did. And there’s nothing to change that fact. So what are you going to do?” Percy didn’t give him a chance to answer. “You’re going to continue to survive and if you even think about giving up, I’m going to kick your ass from Hell to Montana.”

  “Is there an entrance to Hell in Montana?” Eren asked weakly, sniffling.

  Percy shrugged. “Give up and we’ll see.”

  For a second Eren hesitated. “Did you kill someone, too?”

  “I did. It wasn’t the first time.” Percy’s arms wound around Eren’s upper half, pulling him against his chest, a habit he had developed.

  “Your guilt hasn’t gone away?” Eren was looking at the Beta girl again.

  “It hasn’t. I don’t think it ever will. No amount of closure or apologies to families will make me feel better for the lives taken. When we get out of here, if I find their Missing posters . . . I don’t know what I’ll do. Go to the family and confess? Give my condolences?” Percy’s voice sounded lost. “I just don’t know. What I do know is that I’ll do something. I’ll make up for it somehow.”

  Unable to respond to that, Eren stayed silent. How could he give Percy advice when he didn’t even know what he would do? How could he help his friend’s guilt when Eren’s was still fresh? The answer was: He couldn’t. For the time being, he would just lean into Percy’s chest and accept the comfort he was able to give.

  Eren found his eyes trailing down towards her chest, catching the glint of a silver locket. With a little bit of maneuvering - he had to get Percy to rearrange his grip on his chest - Eren was able to remove the locket and chain. A little circle was at the side of the rectangle, which hung suspended vertically on the chain. After cleaning off the locket on his fur, Eren clicked the clasp. Staring up at him from inside the locket was a duo: a girl and a boy. In his lap lay the girl, and the boy in the picture was grinning at the camera, one arm around the girl and her arm was slung across his shoulders. It looked as though this picture was taken years ago. The similarities he saw made his throat close a little. Siblings, maybe? They both had olive skin, same bone structure. His hair was black and his eyes might have been a shade darker than his sister’s. The photo made it a little hard to tell with the lighting.

  The more Eren stared down at those happy faces, the more he figured what he was going to do. All that was left of her was a locket; her brother wouldn’t be able to bury her. Knowing he wouldn’t have anything else but a locket, when Eren got out of here - whether it took months or years - he would find her brother and explain to him what had happened. Eren would give back all that remained of his sister.

  “Percy?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I don’t know what you’re going to do when we get out of here . . . But I’m going to return this. Bad enough whoever she left behind won’t get to bury her. What’s left of her _will be_ returned.” Eren shut the locket and clasped the chain around his neck. Anger churned in his gut and the burn in his throat wasn’t completely from his heaving. How dare the monster that put them here force them to lose pieces of themselves? Taking lives while they sat somewhere far away, guarded, and taking notes? Eren would make him feel the pain that this girl did. The difference would be Eren wouldn’t feel the slightest bit guilty of ending that person’s life. To get rid of the person that had caused him and his friends great pain, Eren wouldn’t mind becoming a little bit of a monster.

  “I don’t think that’s a bad idea.” Percy murmured in his ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, another chapter! My muse likes me for right now by being cooperative.  
> Come find me on Tumblr; my name is the same as here.   
> (Beta'd by tacticalghoul and myself.)

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by tacticalghoul (he's from Tumblr). 
> 
> I hope that you enjoy this work and thank you to those that gave it a shot.
> 
> Come find me on Tumblr under the same name (TheMuseWithin)!


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